"Generally, the death of a judge, in what seem to be mysterious circumstances, while presiding over a case against the second most powerful person in the country, and the closest associate of the head of the government, would be make prime-time television in a democracy. Similarly, the allegations of corruption against the family of the same person would have garnered media attention. But recent events in India prove otherwise. [...] Despite the explosive nature of the story and its potentially unprecedented implications for Indian democracy (in independent India's history, to my knowledge, there is no instance of a judge being assassinated) there was a stunned silence in the mainstream and big media, especially, the English-language television channels that have a disproportionate influence in the setting of the political . [...] But the more damaging development has been the role of the mainstream media in the face of government attempts to muzzle it. Just as in the judge story, there was silence about the corruption story in the media. Even when there was coverage, it was more about the defamation case filed by Mr. Shah rather than the merits of story itself. The rare television channel that has sometimes been critical of the Modi government and faced its wrath for doing so, succumbed, pulling down reportage about the Shah story. This is an extraordinary level of submissiveness displayed by the media. This must also be read in the context of the largest democracy’s abysmal ranking in the World ."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Nissim Mannathukkaren, Modi government and the muzzling of the Indian media, 3 December 2017, '
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brijgopal_Harkishan_Loya
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Nissim Mannathukkaren
24 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Nissim Mannathukkaren →
Related Quotes
"While releasing the tax data, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it should lead to enhanced insights for policyma…"
"The unifying logic of both neo-liberal capitalist development and Hindutva (which is technicism). Both have an instru…"
"The joke is not on Modi. The joke is on the "educated" elite/middle class supporters of Modi who have made idiocy and…"
"Rather than reduce this to the personality of Modi or his lack of knowledge, I am more interested in the fact how the…"
"Other than these, the list of Mr Modi's gaffes is quite long. But again, what is crucial to note is that there has no…"
"All the fantastical claims are coupled with the fact that Mr Modi has not given a single press conference, or an unsc…"
"Generally, the death of a judge, in what seem to be mysterious circumstances, while presiding over a case against the…"
"Much of Narendra Modi's legitimacy among the Indian public comes from the perception that, unlike most of the politic…"
"As examples from history show, when jokes start circulating about a powerful leader, cracks in political legitimacy b…"
"There is something deeply troubling about a culture which makes humans into gods, and which puts people on pedestals …"